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National Guard Members Transform Quickly to Help Town of Greensburg

The phone rang at 1:45 a.m. and minutes later National Guardmembers from all over Kansas picked up their bags, walked out the door and made the transformation from everyday citizen to community hero. Their training prepared them for the difficult tasks at hand, but not for the complete and total devastation they witnessed when their trucks rolled in to the tornado-ravaged city of Greensburg, Kan.

They arrived to find streets littered with family photos and children's toys, large kitchen appliances hanging from atop tree branches, and cars and trucks overturned and lodged inside of staircases and bedrooms.

"This is the worst destruction I've ever seen. I've never seen anything like this in my entire life," said Sgt. 1st Class Derwin Worcester of the 891st Engineering Battalion in Iola, Kan.

Pvt. Jonathan Belosic, also from the 891st, had similar sentiments.

"I was in total shock. It was mind boggling and still is. I feel sorry for this town. I'm glad we are here to help," he said.

Helping is exactly what the nearly 500 members of the Army and Air Kansas National Guard are doing. With their joint capabilities and equipment, they were able to clear more than 560 loads of debris within three days, launch command and communications within minutes, and establish themselves as an integral part of joint agency operations with local law enforcement, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the American Red Cross (ARC) and a slew of volunteer agencies deployed to assist with tornado response and restoration.

"We were fully operational within 12 minutes of arriving, and had a vehicle equipped with computers, phones, satellite internet, and radios. Emergency management personnel and the highway patrol used the vehicle extensively throughout the recovery," said Sgt. John Staiert, a Kansas Army Guardsman from Joint Forces Headquarters in Topeka, describing their incident response vehicle.

"Our coordination with partner agencies has been seamless," said Lt. Col. James Culp, the commander of all National Guard forces involved in Greensburg, Kan. "Everyone on scene is motivated and has really paid attention to the safety and security concerns of this operation," he said.

Law enforcement and debris clean up are currently the main focus of the Kansas National Guard (KNG), however, KNG members are also helping unload thousands of boxes, assisting with barricades, removing deceased animals, and setting up communication towers.

According to Culp "The KNG is motivated, willing to assist, and happy to be here."

The residents of Greensburg are also happy that the KNG is here.

"A little boy came up to me and said 'thank you for serving our country and helping our family'," said Belosic.

Worcester also experienced the spirit of the community when he visited a local hardware store. "The owner told me to take some equipment and leave it for the people in Greensburg. This town really takes care of its own, just like we take care of our own," he said. Editor's note: Maj. DeAnn Barr, Kansas Air National Guard Public Affairs, contributed to this story.

Source: U.S. Army

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